CRITIC'S CHOICE; In English, Tati Confronts Modern Times

By DAVE KEHR

Published: June 20, 2005

When Jacques Tati's comic masterpiece ''Mon Oncle'' opened in New York City on Nov. 3, 1958, it was presented in two versions: patrons of the Baronet Theater could see ''Mon Oncle'' with English subtitles, while at the Guild patrons could see ''My Uncle,'' a substantially different version of the film prepared by Tati for English-speaking audiences.

''Mon Oncle'' has since become a classic, but ''My Uncle'' was filed away and forgotten, at least until last year, when its original negative was discovered in Tati's archives. The badly damaged negative was restored by Tati's estate, and the resulting print -- in bright, beautiful color -- will have its second worldwide premiere tonight at the Museum of Modern Art. After a celebratory screening at 8:30 p.m., presented by J?me Deschamps and Macha Make?f, the Tati estate's caretakers, the film will return on Wednesday for daily screenings through Sunday. (Showtimes and other information are available at www.moma.org.)

One of the most painstaking, meticulous artists the movies have produced, Tati obsessed over every detail of his creations, making only five theatrical features between his 1949 debut, ''Jour de F?,'' and his final film, ''Trafic,'' in 1971. Though ''My Uncle'' doesn't fully qualify as an independent work, it does represent a thorough rethinking of ''Mon Oncle.''

A first viewing suggests dozens of variations between the two films. Most obviously, Tati reshot several scenes, using English signs -- ''School,'' ''Way Out'' -- instead of the French ''?ole'' and ''Sortie.'' But there are many other, more subtle differences: entire sequences appear in one version but not the other, and scenes are shot and edited for different effect.

The French version seems evenly balanced between the two realms, though Tati's sentimental preference for the litter-strewn streets of the old quartier is clear. There appears to be less of that litter in the English version, and less occasion for the two worlds to meet: the scruffy, rotund greengrocer who calls on the Arpels in the French version does not appear in the English film at all, and the stray dogs that freely and gleefully cross the border seem to have had their range curtailed.

In place of these elements, the English version builds up the satire on modern life. A brief scene in which Madame Arpel dresses in a nurse's uniform to serve her son a hygienic meal is extended in the English film to include a few more swipes at such burdensome so-called conveniences as hand-held plate sterilizers.

Most tellingly, perhaps, Tati largely restricts the English dialogue to the world of the Arpels. They and their friends now speak almost exclusively in British-accented English, while French remains the language of the old city: of Hulot, his neighbors, the children and (one feels strangely certain) the dogs. Fifty years ago, Tati had already recognized English as the language of globalization, of the erasure of the cultural quirks and individual eccentricities that were his principal objects of delight.

In the end, ''My Uncle'' seems as much a gentle rebuke of the English-speaking audience as a friendly gesture toward it. Though dialogue is not a crucial element in either version (''Mon Oncle'' can be fully enjoyed without subtitles), Tati is using it here to draw a line of demarcation, another border between the old world and the new, between a waning Europe and an economically emerging United States. For Tati, a supreme visual artist, language is just another part of the image.